Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Lazy ass post...aka photodump











                                                          =Random Bits of Life

Monday, March 4, 2013

To remember...

    I remember when my son was first born and people told me things like "Cherish these moments" and "Be careful, they grow up so fast" at the time I thought I understood what that they meant. I assumed they were saying that childhood is such a short part of a persons life and you only get one shot at it.  But now 12 years into to this parenting thing I think I really understand what people were trying to tell me.  It's not that childhood is such a short part of life it's that it's still happening no matter what else is going on. When your child is first born every moment seems like a lifetime, everything else falls to wayside and your focus is on this new life you've created.  You don't love your child any less when you have to go back to the "real world" and bills, chores, employers etc still have the nerve to expect you to give a damn about them when you just created the most perfect person!!!  Before you know it grocery shopping or car repairs and whatnot are in the front of your mind and you're watching your child growing up out of the corner of your eye. For years I meant to get a nice camera and take wonderful pictures of my son like the mommy blogs I read at the time.  Suddenly my sweet special boy was rolling his eyes and telling me I just didn't understand this or that. I knew the time to capture the sweetness was coming to an end and it would take some sneakiness on my part.  So I did what any mother desperate to have one more week with her "little" boy would do...  I took him to DISNEYWORLD !!! I picked my favorite images to put here to comfort me in these teen years ahead.  I don't know whats coming for me but I'm ready.







 And a few bonus for those really hard times





Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Let it snow!

I'm ready for some snow!... My son however is not happy going to bed at his regular bedtime even though there is no school

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Mamas Gotta Brand New Bag! (and there's a camera in it)

   So the camera is here and I love! luv! lurve it !  I watched a youtube video on my phone about close up portraits at work and immediately went to work photographing children. I think the photos from work turned out pretty good for being taken less than a hour after touching a DSLR for the first time. With the youtube video fresh in my mind I felt confident to adjust aperture and selecting a location. Returning home and attempting to photograph my own child proved to be bit more difficult. The memory of the video seemed hazy and the incandescent lighting of my apartment deserved a change of white balance and as of now I have know idea how to change that.

The pics from work:
 
From home:


Monday, February 11, 2013

A.D.D. Week 1

  Well I failed again at this stupid challenge. I decided maybe I should modify it for losers such as myself.  I decided to make it a 30 week challenge (blog at least once a week for 30 weeks). Hopefully I can keep my A.D.D. at bay one night a week and remember to write in this stupid blog. Alas it is going to be hard to remember because I have decided to take up yet another complicated hobby. Can you guess what it is? I'll give you a hint... it's expensive and I'll tire of it quickly! Yup you guessed right it's photography! I've purchased a DSLR camera that I have no idea how to use and plan to teach myself how to use it by watching youtube videos. Definitely needed to find a cool weather hobby to replace running. Hopefully this one takes. (Just in case contact me in a months time to buy a gently used Canon eos Rebel T3i if that's even the right name of the damn thing).

Sunday, February 3, 2013

#3. Slackin out of control

     Welp, as predicted today was a slacking day. The day consisted of couching it and face feeding. Now I'm half-assing a blog post. I'm dreading going to work tomorrow, I used to love my job but now its becoming a chore. I swear next time I have a golden day I'm gonna remember I hate my job and use all that energy to get a CEO job or something.  I'm just going to power through the monotony and focus on the fact that my vacation is only 20 days away.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Day 2.0: A Golden Day

    Are you there no one ? It's me JeebusFreek ... Today was a non slacking day for me. These ultra productive days come around about twice a month for me. If you are also a slacker you know the type of day I speak of. I call it a golden day and they are usually preceded by days (weeks?!?) of planning to do something and then finally being forced to do it. The feeling of actually completing the task you've been putting off is so empowering that you feel compelled to tackle vanity projects like knitting sweaters and churning butter. Without further adieu here is a list of things I did today:
1. Cleaned my apartment (including folding 6 loads of laundry)
2.Made a menu for the next two weeks
3.Grocery shopped for said menu (at multiple grocery stores for maximum savings)
4.Filed my income taxes
5. prepared my monthly budget and updated my bill pay
6.Made marinara sauce from scratch (recipe to follow)
7. Made a pot roast
8.Made rice crispy treats
9.Watched the entire sixth season of 30 rock
10.Knitted half a shrug I plan on wearing on my vacation
I did all this and am now half drunk and upholding my promise to complete the 30 day challenge. It all felt so easy and I swear everyday is going to be like this and my life is going to be so easy and perfect yada yada yada! et cetera! et cetera!  Then the sun will rise tomorrow and I'll convince my self that I need a break because I worked so hard yesterday and the cycle of procrastination will start anew.

I lived in Italy for 4 years as a child I became a sauce snob. My mother got this recipe from Italian woman and it is my go to recipe for sauce
       



                                     Some Old Italian Lady's Pomodoro Recipe
Ingredients
2 cans crushed tomato (I think Dei Fratelli or Pomi are the best I've tried in the states)
olive oil
1smallor medium head of garlic (6-8 cloves)
1 cube Knorr vegetarian vegetable bullion
 about 2.5 teaspoons of salt
 Italian parsley to taste
1 wedge of crazy expensive Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions:  *Inspect your head of garlic before buying and if it has any weird shrinkage, soft spots, or powdery mold reject it* Remove all the normal looking outer cloves of garlic (about 6-8 cloves)leaving the weird shaped skinny cloves for your compost pile. I'm sure these fugly cloves are just as good and you can use them if you're some sort of garlic affirmative action proponent; but for me they're more trouble than they're worth. Make sure to remove all the peels from the choice cloves then cut them lengthwise. If you see a green shoot in the middle of the clove remove the shoot or your sauce will be bitter. Once you have your shoot free garlic pour enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a stockpot about a quarter of an inch. Turn your burner on low and add the garlic to your olive oil once bubbles form around the garlic remove from heat and let sit for two minutes then repeat. Add cans of crushed tomatoes; rinse each can with about a quarter cup of water and add that as well. Add bullion cube. They way I was taught this recipe was to make a cup out of your hand ,like you are going to drink water from a stream, and fill the deepest part with salt and add that to the sauce. I know everyone has a different sized hand so I measured it today and it was about 2.5 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of salt. Simmer on low until the sauce thickens(1 to 2 hours) it will splatter so if you have a splatter guard  USE IT. Stir about every 10-15 mins. This sauce like all spaghetti sauces is better if you prepare a day or two ahead.  When you are ready to eat it boil your pasta and use just enough sauce for the pasta you are going to eat immediately add parsley to the portion of sauce you are using and reheat on stove top *do not microwave *garnish with as much cheese as you like and enjoy.